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Appeal backed by former presidents raises $31M

Posted on Monday, October 23, 2017 by Willis Stokes

Five former US presidents to appear at hurricane relief concert

"All five living former U.S. presidents will be attending a concert Saturday night in a Texas college town, raising money for relief efforts from hurricane devastation in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands".

President Donald Trump has recorded a video message for the hurricane relief concert that five former USA presidents are attending Saturday night.

The former presidents, with the exception of George H.W. Bush, took the opportunity to briefly speak during a ceremony honoring five Daily Point of Light award recipients just over an hour into the concert. The 93-year-old elder Bush suffers from a form of Parkinson's disease and appeared in a wheelchair at the event.

Lady Gaga gave a surprise performance at the concert, announcing that she would make a $1 million donation and that a "mental health and emotional trauma surviving program" would be set up for hurricane survivors.

Following a presentation detailing the contributions made by the five individuals, the presidents each took the time to speak.

Rousing applause greeted all of the Presidents, but especially George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

"It's certainly a triple, if not a home run, every time", said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston.

Amid criticism that his administration was initially slow to aid ravaged Puerto Rico, Trump accused island leaders of "poor leadership", and later tweeted that, "Electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes" while saying that Federal Emergency Management Agency, first-responders and military personnel wouldn't be able to stay there forever.

All in all, it was a successful event for One America Appeal - the only interest that really, truly mattered on Saturday evening - and, thanks to the support of five ex-presidents, a major win for a united America.

The concert at Texas A&M's Reed Arena was to raise money for the victims of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.

A website accepting donations, OneAmericaAppeal.org, was created with 100 percent of proceeds pledged to hurricane relief.

"People are hurtin' down here, but as one Texan put it, we've got more love in Texas than water", the younger Bush said.